Chesterton's Fence

Before you change something, you must understand why it exists.
"I can't see the reason" is not the same as "there is no reason."

You encounter something. A rule. A process. A line of code. A policy.
It seems pointless, outdated, or just wrong. Your instinct: remove it.

The only question that matters
Do you know why this exists?
No — Stop
You don't know why it's there.
That's not evidence it serves no purpose. It's evidence you don't fully understand the situation yet. Things don't exist by accident — they were built to solve a problem, even if that problem isn't visible to you now.

Remove it blindly and you risk unleashing consequences that ripple through the system for years.
What to do instead
  • Find who built it — and why
  • Find the problem it was protecting against
  • Talk to people who were there
  • Only then are you qualified to have an opinion
Yes — Proceed
You understand why it was built.
Now you can make an informed decision. You know what the fence was protecting against. You know what you'd be trading away.

That's the only position from which reform is responsible.
Now decide
  • Original reason still holds → keep it
  • Reason no longer applies → remove it, confidently
  • Reason holds but solution is wrong → replace it
Where it shows up
Org hierarchies
Eliminate a hierarchy without understanding its purpose, and informal power structures fill the vacuum — usually less visible and less accountable than the one you removed.
Breaking habits
Bad habits exist because they fulfil unmet needs — connection, comfort, relief. Remove the habit without addressing the underlying need, and something worse replaces it.